One family : before and during the Holocaust

Based on archival documents and interviews with relatives and their friends, Kolin traces his family history from his great-grandparents to his parents, who were cousins. The family Kolniczanski stemmed from Kolnica, northeastern Poland. In the early 20th century one branch of the family settled in Warsaw, while another branch, to which his mother was born, immigrated to Paris and changed their surname to Kolnitchanski. In 1934, Motke Kolniczanski from Warsaw, Kolin's paternal grandfather, immigrated to the USA and changed his surname to Kolin; among his motives were growing antisemitism and fear of war. The Kolniczanskis, except for some family members who fled to the USSR, perished under the Nazi occupation, some of them as resistance fighters. Part of the Kolnitchanskis from Paris survived (Kolin's mother, Helen, by fleeing to Grenoble), while others were deported via Drancy to Auschwitz and perished. Includes bibliographical references (pages 183-185) and index. 189 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm